Though not without its challenges, the sub sectional meet was a resounding success for Ravenwood's boys track & field team. The meet started off in extraordinary fashion Wednesday as Ravenwood scored 70 points across 5 field events. Mason Green won shot and disc, with Patrick Fiechtl claiming 2nd in shot and 3rd in disc, and John Mark Coggin finishing runner up in disc. Donovan Starr won the high jump again, while Jackson Hopkins (2nd) and Will Freeman (5th) scored in the pole vault. John Bass was third in the long jump.
Thursday got off to an inauspicious start as the power generator kept failing, leaving a frazzled Coach Mueller with no electricity to run the fully automatic timing system. Karen Rayl leapt into action, and football's generator rode in on the back of a John Deere to save the day. From there, it was relatively smooth sailing as the 4x800m relay of Caleb MacDonald, Robert Hininger, Cole Montgomery, and Alex Osburn placed third to advance, then John Bass was runner up in the 110m hurdles. Donovan won his second event with a blistering 10.88 in the 100m dash, with Ben Hubbard placing a strong 6th.
There was more drama when speedster Trey Hallett pulled his hamstring in the 4x200m, leaving the fate of the 4x100m and 4x400m relays in some doubt. But after Miles Ramer cruised to a win in the 1600m, with Will Johnson (6th) also moving on, the boys 4x100m, now featuring John Bass, Cole Bennett, Ben Hubbard, and Donovan Starr, eliminated any doubt by winning handily. It was Donovan's third gold medal of the meet. Ramer was up to his usual tricks in the 800m, hiding in the proverbial weeds before maneuvering his way to the front and finishing first with a grin. Will Johnson advanced in the 3200m with a 6th place finish, and the 4x400m of Donovan Starr, John Bass, Miles Ramer, and Alex Osburn outran their seed to finish second.
"I'm so proud of this group," said Coach Mueller afterwards. "The multiple wins from Donovan, Mason, and Miles are the obvious highlights, but we had people doing amazing things up and down the roster. Alex Osburn stepping out of his element to run the 4x800m along with three freshman, Cole Bennett stepping in for Trey even though he's been sick, John Bass competing in four events while still recovering from the dec, Coach Grimes' throwers going 1-2-3 in the disc, Jackson and Will advancing to sectionals in the pole vault, an event neither of them had tried prior to this spring... This team has shown a lot of heart, and we love them for it."
The boys will be back at it next week, as they battle for a berth in the state championship meet. The meet is at Ravenwood, with field events starting at 4:00 PM Wednesday and running events starting at 4:00 PM Thursday.
